Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-04-19
LONG AND SHORT.
MORE INTERPRETATIONS OF THE Law
BY TEE COMMISSION.
Railroads Not Entitled to Exemption
Status Of Express cOmpanies-Mis-
sionaries and Acts Of Charity
Queries from Conductors.
[By telegraph 70 tho Disnatnh.l


WASHINGTON, April 18.-The follow
ing reply, in substance, has been sem
TO several railroad companies which
have applied for relief from the short
haul provision of the law without
making, in the opinion of the commits
sion, q satisfactory showing of facts Il
support even temporary order:
10 Decatur AxteH, Esq, Rcceivcri
Etc.
Dear Sir,-You have fled with this
commission O petition to have the Rich
mond and Allegheny railroad "in
cluded among the railroads entitled tC
claim the exemption" which may be
authorized under the fourth section oil
the act under which the commission is
formed. The PETITIONS not verified, and,
il it were otherwise sufficient, it would
be necessary to return it for that i'm
po1tant formality, but in substance also
the petition is clearly defective. il
does not set forth facts sufficiently for
the purposes of an intelligent judgment
upon the situation. The law under
which we are acting lays down a gene
raj rule, which is presumptively just,
and which must be applied in all
cases unless facts are shown which
make particular case clearly
exceptional. These should be shown
by the petition which is presented for
relief, and the commission before il
can grant relief must satisfy itself on
investigation that the facts are as stated
and that they render the ordinary ope'
ration of the law oppressive to an ex
tent that warrants exception being
made in the petitioners favor
We do not think you make
such a case by your petition. Its
statements are very brief and general,
and are quite as much expressions OF
opinion as statements of facts. The
prayer of the petition is also too broad.
You ask that the operation of the Law
be suspended generally as tOyour road,
but the commission does not grant gen
eral suspension to any road, but gives
relief only as to traffic between speci-
fed points. For these reasons no order
is made on your petition.
Very respectfully, &c,
II. NJ. COOLEY, Chairman.
The express companies having raised
the question as to whether they were
subject to the operations OF the inter.
State law, the commission has made d
ruling that it would hold in the affirm.
alive, but would give hearing to any
company wishing to contest the point
The Canadian Express Company, in
response TO whose inquiry this ruling
was made, has notified the commission
that it is carrying out the provisions OF
the interstate commerce law, and for.
wards copy of its general tariff from
lie Offices in the United States.
in reply to Bishop Knickerbocker, OF
indianapolis, WHO inquired as to the
light OF the railroad to transport mis-
,ionaIies at reduced rates, the commits
son write that it has no power in the
premises. "Thereis no doubt, Judge
Cooley adds, "of the right Of railroads
TO grant special privileges to religious
teachers, and, in deciding in good faith
what they will do, they can scarcely be
said to incur the risk of penalties. The
penalties are for wilful violations Of the
law-not for errors of judgment.
Replies of similar purport have been
made to inquiries with respect to trans
porting persons as acts of charity. To
an inquiry in regard to the institution
of suits by district attorneys the com
mission write "In deciding upon in
stitution of suits the United States dis
trict attorney must act upon his own
judgment"
The following embodies by far the
most important action yet taken by the
Interstate Commerce Commission.
The immediate matters selected to
which to append the opinions of the
commission only affect the interests OF
limited classes, but the opinions them
selves cover in important respects the
of the interstate law
and the determination respecting the
extent of the powers with which the
deems itself charged, and,
as is proven by the immense correspon-
dence OF the commission, are of interest
to almost every branch of trade or com
merce in the land. An application in
writing has been made to the commits
sion for its answer 10 the following ques-
tons propounded on behalf 0. the Order
of Railway Conductors:
]. Are railway companies prohibited
from issuing free transportation to the
immediate families of employees OF their
own railways ?
.. Are railway companies prohibited
from issuing free or reduced transpOr-
tation of officers of associations CON-
posed exclusively Of railway employs,
while thCse officers ere temporarily out
of the railway service and exclusively
by those associations ?
3. May railway companies Issue
passes to employees of other railways on
of the employee, or must
such application come from an officer
of the company by which he is EN-
ployed?
4. May railway companies issue free
or reduced transportation TO those who
make the railway service their business
or trade while temporarily out of en-
ployment and in search of situations =?
8. May railway companies provide
free transportation for delegates to au-
nual conventions of an association com
posed exclusively of railway employees
upon certificates from the officers of the
association that they are such represen-
tatives?
6. If free transportation may be fur
nished to the representatives described
in Question 3, must all such representa-
tives be actually in the empty of some
railway, or may it include those who
may be temporarily out OF employment
and those temporarily engaged IN other
employments us officers OF such asso-
Citations?
7. If free transportation is provided
for delegates described i'll Question .,
may it include members of the imme-
diate families of the delegates
6. If free transportation or reduced
rates are provided for representatives
OF any one association, must the same
be extended to all others which are
composed exclusively OF railway en-
ployes on application?
Anotl er application has been made
to the commission on behalf of the
Traders and Travellers Union, stating
the system under which an additional
allowance of free baggage has been
heretofore carried by commercial ira
vellers, subject to written agreement